Personal income is the income received by all residents from all sources, including wages, property rentals, dividends, interest, and government transfer payments such as Social Security and social assistance for low-income residents.

Texas had the nation's fourth-highest personal income growth rate, the bureau said. The nationwide average was 2.6 percent.

"It's a little bit like March Madness," said Patrick Jankowski, vice president of research for the Greater Houston Partnership. "It's always exciting to be in the top four."

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Only North Dakota, Utah and Idaho did better than Texas. West Virginia ranked last on the list, with average personal income growing 1.5 percent in 2013.

Nationwide in 2012, average personal income grew by 4.2 percent.

To explain the drop in the rate of growth, the bureau pointed to two prime factors: the end of the temporary 2 percentage point cut in the employee contribution rate for Social Security and the acceleration of the receipt of 2012 income, including bonuses and dividends, in anticipation of higher income tax rates.

When it comes to net earnings - the wages and salaries that workers receive - Texas was tied with Utah with the second-highest growth rate in the nation at 3.6 percent last year.

Only North Dakota, at 8.9 percent, was higher.

In Texas, part of the gains stem from the high wages paid by the energy industry. But the growth of the construction industry was an even bigger contributor to the overall economic well-being of Texas, Jankowski said.

"At this stage of the business cycle, it's what you'd expect," he said. All the idle capacity - empty office and industry space - has already been leased and more needs to be built.

It's not just Texas, Jankowski added. Construction is driving earnings growth in many states.

From the first quarter of 2010 to the fourth quarter of 2013, the oil and gas exploration and production industry accounted for 40 percent of earnings growth in Texas, said Jankowski, who used the bureau's data to chart the statewide improvement from the depths of the recession.

Professional services have also played a strong role, accounting for 17 percent of the statewide earnings growth, Jankowski said.

Construction represents 13 percent of the earnings growth during that same four-year period, while health care represents 10 percent, he said.